1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a setup method for a network system that includes a control apparatus, connected to a network, and an image processing apparatus that is connected to the control apparatus and can access the network via the control apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A so-called multifunctional apparatus (image processing apparatus) has been put to practical use. This apparatus is an image forming apparatus that includes a printer, which prints image data received by a scanner, and a communication interface that can receive a print job via communication with an external apparatus, such as a host computer.
Some image forming apparatuses of this type include data storage units, such as hard disk drives, as external storage devices. Further, an image forming apparatus, when put to practical use, can perform a secure printing process, i.e., a print job, received from a host computer, is stored and a pre-designated ID information is authenticated and printing of the stored print job is begun.
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open Application No. 2000-76234 (patent document 1), a system is disclosed whereby data is unified that is held by a plurality of data processing apparatuses.
Further, a data transmission function that uses a network has also been developed, and a function for the storage, directly on the hard disk of a computer on a network, of data obtained by scanning has been practically employed.
As described above, since various functions for the image forming apparatus have been put to practical use, multiple setup items are present for the image forming apparatus, and a user (e.g., a manager of an image forming apparatus) must enter all the setups for the functions that are to be employed.
Conventionally as a function for transmitting setup information, the image forming apparatus can transmit its own setup information to another image forming apparatus. By using this function, in a case wherein initial setups of multiple image forming apparatuses are to be initially set, or in a case wherein facilities are being moved, or when there is a change in servers or a change in management methods, a manager need not manually repeat the entry of the setups for the individual image forming apparatuses.
That is, after setup information has been entered in one image forming apparatus, the same information can be delivered to the rest of the image forming apparatuses, and the need for additional labor by a manager is eliminated. At present, no additional effort is required for the delivery of information, for user setups, for ID management setups, and for address book setups that are entered when an initial image forming apparatus is being set up.
However, for an image forming apparatus that is attached to a printing control apparatus (a control apparatus) and that communicates with a network via the printing control apparatus, the network environment wherein the image forming apparatus is operated constitutes a special case. That is, since the setup information related to the network is stored in the printing control apparatus, the image forming apparatus can not transmit this setup information to another image forming apparatus.
Further, since address book information to be held in the image forming apparatus can be set up for and apply only to the image forming apparatus, a user must manually enter the same address book information when setting up the printing control apparatus.
That is, since the setup information transmitted by the image forming apparatus can be set up only for the image forming apparatus, a user must manually supply the same setup information for the printing control apparatus. Thus, an additional operating requirement is required.